Sarah’s special story wins $10,000 for her school and
$5,000 for herself.

Lone Oak, Texas: Third-grader Sarah Shreve’s teachers at Lone
Oak Elementary School had never heard her speak – until a couple weeks
ago. Sarah made a comment just after she found out that she had won a
national video contest.

Sarah suffers from a severe anxiety disorder called
selective mutism; but when she entered the Scotties (U.S.) Facial National “Trees
Rock” Video Contest, things began to change, says her mother Melissa.
After a month of online voting and nearly 100,000 votes from the public, Sarah
received a call from Scotties (U.S.) telling her that she had won $10,000 for her
school and $5,000 for herself. “This was a contest that Sarah felt
passionate about,” says Melissa. “When we got the call about the judging,
Sarah marched over to the phone and spoke into it, saying `We have an update
for Team Sarah – WE WON!’” (One of the tools Sarah uses for therapy is a
phone, which she speaks into without anyone on the other end.)

Melissa credits
Sarah’s breakthrough to the confidence she has gained through the “Trees Rock”
video contest, in which third, fourth, and fifth graders were challenged to
create a short video about the importance of trees in their lives. During
the voting period, it truly was a “Team Sarah” mentality in Lone Oak. As
the smallest community out of all the top 12 finalists, Lone Oak came together
with a “don’t mess with Texas” attitude, as Judy Steadham, Lone Oak Elementary
Principal recalls. “There is a real alliance between the school and the
community in Lone Oak. We had students who graduated 20 years ago
reaching out to Sarah to let her know they were voting for her.”

And, there was more
support -- everywhere. Sarah inspired a school employee to use her
personal time to individually call people in the town and walk them through the
voting process. Sarah even received letters of support, including a very
touching one from a man who graduated from Lone Oak High School in 1954.
At an assembly held in her honour, a very surprising thing happened – her efforts
rendered many speechless and others to tears!

The prize money
will be used to upgrade the technology at Lone Oak Elementary. A school
with very few resources will now have the ability to provide students with
laptops and tablets.

During the video
contest, students were encouraged to be as creative as possible in their
entries – for example, by creating a poem, a play, a speech, a song, or a
dance. After rigorous scrutiny by a panel of judges, entries from around the
country were narrowed down to the 12 most compelling in the categories of
clarity of message, relativity to the theme, and creativity. From there
the contest went to a national vote.

Scotties (U.S.) is deeply
committed to being a sustainable company with their 3-to-1 promise. This means
that for every one tree they use, they plant three in its place. Over the
last 50 years, Scotties’ (U.S.) parent company, J.D. Irving, Limited has planted over
877 million trees in North America.

About Scotties
(U.S.) Facial Tissue:
Scotties (U.S.) Facial Tissue products are made from trees from J.D. Irving, Limited’s
forests. As part of its award-winning commitment to responsible forest
management, J.D. Irving, Limited plants seedlings every spring and summer to
reforest the woodlands. In the past 50+ years, JDI has planted over 940million trees. Since 2001, JDI’s forests have been certified by The
Sustainable Forestry Initiative Inc. (“SFI”). In the U.S., the company’s
forests are also certified under the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC® C041515).
For more information, please visit www.scottiesfacial.com.